St. Norbert Falls in MWC Tournament Title Game

DE PERE - St. Norbert College finished as the runner-up in the Midwest Conference Tournament for the third time in five years as the Green Knights dropped the championship game to Beloit College 9-6 at Green Bay Southwest High School. The Green Knights topped Monmouth College 7-5 in an elimination game earlier in the day.

The Green Knights (23-13) couldn't hold Beloit off in the championship game despite taking a 5-1 lead, and now must wait to see if they will receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. St. Norbert entered the weekend ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division III Central Region.

After Beloit scored in the top of the first, St. Norbert answered with a leadoff home run by Brandon Hintz. Following singles by Jared Yost and Tony Jandron, Cory Fuller hit a sacrifice fly for a 2-1 lead. The Green Knights added three in the second on an RBI double by Jordan Vater, who then scored on a wild pitch. Ryan Kehl then scored on a balk for a 5-1 lead.

Beloit scored once in the third and then scored five times in the fourth. Mike Ross hit a bloop double to short right field to score three runs with two outs in the fourth. The Buccaneers added a run for an 8-5 lead, but Hintz singled in Vater to make it 8-6 through six. Beloit added an insurance run in the eighth, and St. Norbert had the tying run at the plate in the ninth but couldn't score.

St. Norbert and Beloit each had 11 hits, with Hintz and Vater both going 2-for-4 and Yost 2-for-5. Jandron took the loss, going 3 1/3 innings and allowing six hits and seven runs with five walks and four strikeouts.

Against Monmouth, Bryan Stoppenbach pitched a complete-game seven-hitter to lead St. Norbert to the win. Stoppenbach allowed seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Hintz and Brett Birkholz both scored on infield errors int he top of the first inning. Monmouth scored once in the second before Jandron hit a solo home run in the third. Hintz added a solo home run in the fourth for a 4-1 lead. Monmouth scored once in the fifth before Yost singled in Vater in the sixth. Monmouth's Ross Donnan then hit a three-run home run in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5.

St. Norbert broke the tie in the eighth on a Birkholz two-out single to score pinch-runner Jordan Powers. Ryan Gusick doubled in Garrick Fisher in the ninth for an insurance run.

Hintz was 3-for-4 against Monmouth, while Birkholz was 2-for-3. Jandron was 2-for-5 with two runs batted in for St. Norbert, which had 13 hits against the Scots.